


the world will never be the same

by faunus



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Canon - Musical, Gen, One Shot Collection, will update tags as i go on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:13:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7498986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faunus/pseuds/faunus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bits and pieces of the songs in narrative form.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. we know it's lose-lose

**Author's Note:**

> not sure if this has been done already, but anyway  
> sometimes when i listen to the cast album, scenes pop into my head of what i think happened and i try to write them down; i'm not a great writer, but yolo amirite
> 
> sorry in advance for any mistakes! i'll correct them as soon as i see them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> election of 1800 - ending

Burr walked up Jefferson and Madison with his hand out and a practiced, neutral smile on his face.

“Congrats on a race well run; I _did_ give you a fight.”

Jefferson made no move to shake the offered hand. “Uh huh.” With one last disdainful glance, he turned away, gesturing for Madison to follow him.

Burr’s smile slipped as he lowered his arm; as the two started walking away, he called out, “I look forward to our partnership!”

Jefferson stopped, holding an arm out to halt Madison as well. The former turned around to face Burr again. “Our… partnership,” he said slowly, eyes narrowed.

“As your vice president,” Burr clarified; his smile was now strained at the corners as he struggled not to throttle the taller man.

Madison cracked a smile as Jefferson burst out laughing, effectively wiping any hint of a smile off Burr’s face. He scowled as Jefferson turned to Madison and jabbed a thumb back at Burr.

“You hear this guy?" Jefferson sneered. "Man openly campaigns against me, talkin’ about ‘I look forward to our partnership.'” Madison looked thoughtful and said, “You know, it is crazy that the guy who comes in second gets to be vice president.”

Jefferson’s face transformed into one of pure, unadulterated glee. “Ooh, you know what? We can change that - you know why?”

“Why?” Madison asked, already knowing the answer and anticipating Burr's response.

“Because I’m the president,” Jefferson said, smug.

Sure enough, Burr was trying to conceal a murderous look as Jefferson swaggered over. The newly elected president placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder and leaned in.

“Burr,” he said softly, a smirk firmly on his face, “When you see Hamilton, thank him for the endorsement.” Laughing, he strolled away, Madison trailing behind him. Burr stayed rooted to the spot, shaking with rage. 

He spent the next few minutes composing himself - it wouldn’t do for anyone else to see him like this, especially not after such a public defeat. With a speed born out of practice, he compartmentalized his anger and humiliation and turned them into something he could use: a laser-like focus that he directed towards drafting a letter to one Alexander Hamilton. 

As Burr headed home, he had only one thought: if Hamilton wanted to see him take initiative so much, so be it.


	2. you knock me out, i fall apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's quiet uptown - eliza  
> (based off of the hamiltome)

They are standing in the garden, Alexander by Eliza's side; she takes his hand.

"It's quiet uptown," Eliza says softly, staring at a point in the distance.

Gripping her hand like a lifeline, Alexander shatters.

Forgiveness; can you imagine?


	3. hate the sin, love the sinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the room where it happens - alexander hamilton

A figure materialized in Aaron’s head as he sat on a bench, agonizing over Hamilton’s apparent dinner plans with his enemies. As the figure slowly started to take shape, Aaron circled around it. _Did Washington know about the dinner? Was there presidential pressure to deliver?_ Head in his hands, he consulted the person standing before him in his mind’s eye.

“Alexander Hamilton.”

Alexander nodded at him, silent for once. _Wonders never cease._

Aaron continued to walk around the other man at a slow pace, examining him with every step. “Did you know, even then, it doesn’t matter where you put the U.S. Capital?”

Not moving, Alexander replied, “We’ll have the banks; they’re in the same spot.”

“You got more than you gave,” Aaron replied, exasperated. He was glaring at Alexander’s back now, as if looking hard enough at the obnoxious green coat would yield the answers he wanted.

Alexander whirled around to face Aaron, eyes blazing. “And I wanted what I got,” he fired back. “When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game —” and here he jabbed an accusing finger at Aaron, “— but you don’t get a win unless you play in the game.”

Aaron scowled. Alexander smirked, spreading his arms wide. “Oh, you get love for it. You get hate for it.” The blank space the two of them were in suddenly darkened, and Alexander looked menacing as he stalked toward Aaron and continued, “You get nothing if you wait for it.” A line of shadowy figures materialized behind Alexander; Aaron heard a faint echo of, “Wait for it, wait!”

Alexander was almost in front of Aaron now, gesturing wildly with his hands. “God help and forgive me; I wanna build something that’s gonna outlive me!” 

A few of the shadows broke rank to take the forms of Jefferson, Madison, and Washington. All four of them circled Aaron, and he squeezed his eyes shut as they chanted, “What do you want, Burr?” The other figures joined in in a mocking echo, “What do you want, Burr? What do you want, Burr?”

The voices reached a crescendo as the four continued, “If you stand for nothing, Burr, what do you fall for?” With a shout, Aaron shot up from his seat, chest heaving; the scene dissipated like smoke from his mind. There were a more than a few passerby taking worried glances at him, but he ignored them as he practically ran home, a faint echo of "What do you want, Burr?" in his head and a half-formed plan taking place. 

 _I want to be in the room where it happens_ — _no,_ _I'v_ _e_ got _to be in the room where it happens._


	4. uniquely situated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we know - alexander's defense

"You see," Burr read, "it was my wife who you decided to--"

Jefferson's gaze shot up from the letter to a suddenly nervous Hamilton, an incredulous "Whaaaaat--" the only thing the taller man could think of to say.

Hamilton's arms began to gesticulate frantically as words poured from his mouth. "She courted me, escorted me to bed and when she had me in a corner, that's when Reynolds extorted me for a sordid fee. I paid him quarterly; I may have mortally wounded my prospects, but my papers are orderly!"

He paused to take a breath while the other three men stared at him with a mix of disbelief and faint disgust. Jefferson coughed, conveying in a noise just what he thought of Hamilton's priorities. 

 

Hamilton continued, moving around the room to grab seemingly random papers and shove them towards Madison. "As you can see, I kept a record of every check in my checkered history: check it again against your list n' see _consistency_." Madison glanced down at the papers, then wordlessly passed them to Jefferson, who snatched them and started poring over Hamilton's apparently embezzlement-free records. Burr looked over his shoulder, trying and failing to seem inconspicuous while doing so.

Pacing back and forth, the agitated man ranted to the floor, "I never spent a cent that wasn't mine; you sent the dogs after my scent, that's -- _fine._ Yes, I have reasons for shame, but I have not committed treason and sullied my good name!" He spun around and faced Madison, Jefferson, and Burr; all three looked up from their huddle around the desk after noticing that he had stopped talking. 

"As you can see, I have done _nothing_ to provoke legal action," Hamilton said, clenching his fists at his sides. Gritting his teeth, he asked them angrily, " _Are_ my answers to your satisfaction?" Chest heaving, he stood there awaiting a response.

 

Jefferson stared at Hamilton. "My God," he said, laughing incredulously. He turned to face Madison, who was looking at the vibrating man as if seeing him for the first time. Madison tore his eyes away from the impatient Hamilton to have a silent conversation with Jefferson using his eyes, and in Jefferson's case, increasingly complex facial movements.

After a few moments, Madison smirked, moving towards the door and gesturing for the other two to follow. "Gentlemen, let's go." Jefferson got up to follow; Burr shut his eyes, waiting to wake up from this nightmare of a situation.

"So?" Hamilton burst out, glaring at Madison. The duo simultaneously turned towards him and briefly glanced at each other before speaking. "The people won't know what we know," they said in unison, wearing identical vicious smiles. The two left the room; unable to resist a golden opportunity for theatrics, Jefferson sent one last shark-toothed grin Hamilton's way before slamming the door shut with a sense of finality.

 

Visibly discomfited, Hamilton addressed the only other person left in the room. "Burr!" he said with a note of desperation. "How do I know you won't use this against me the next time we go toe to toe?" 

Burr opened his eyes and smiled sadly at the man who he had known for what felt like forever. "Alexander, rumors only grow." His face darkened as he reminded his once-friend, "And we both know what we know." He moved as if to pat Hamilton's shoulder, a gesture that felt almost second nature by now, but stopped himself just before doing so. Pulling his hand back, Burr left the room as well, closing the door softly behind him.

Alexander was left standing in the center of the room with only his now-turbulent thoughts keeping him company. The sudden quiet was deafening, but his mind was distracted with another great disaster a million lifetimes ago. He started to pace in a well-worn circle around his office as his thoughts raced past, fast as lightning.  _In the eye of a hurricane, there is quiet..._


End file.
